In the past, large-scale computing projects were limited to individuals and enterprises that owned large physical data centers with towering racks of computers. Now, distributed computing allows anyone with the resources to buy server space to run as many instances of their preferred computing device as desired. Further efficiency improvements have been introduced in the form of application containers that allow administrators to run applications without requiring the resources necessary to simulate an entire virtualized operating system for each virtualized application. Containers may reduce the processing requirements for each application, allowing a greater number of applications to be run on the same host. Containers can be used for anything from short-lived operations lasting minutes to long-lived operations lasting weeks or months, and can be configured to run a wide variety of applications in order to complete a wide variety of computing tasks.
Traditional systems for using containers to complete computing tasks may have a low degree of automation, requiring a user to manually configure and launch each container. To compound the problem, traditional systems for distributing containers to host computing systems may only be capable of distributing container images and may not be capable of distributing any non-default configuration files. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for distributing configuration templates with application containers.